Arts England

If you look at a cross section of summer films, you can't help but be struck by the opportunities that British actors have, playing characters of interest and substance at relatively young ages. Jodhi May, portraying a 12-year-old South African schoolgirl in "A World Apart"; James Wilby in "A Summer Story" but especially in "A Handful of Dust"; his co-star in "Dust," Kristin Scott Thomas, and Imogen Stubbs, whom audiences will find as a farm girl in "A Summer Story."

Britain said on Friday it had dropped a bid to acquire one of the world's greatest private art collections, belonging to Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, after hearing that he had provisionally agreed to lend most of it to Spain for 10 years. British Arts Minister Richard Luce told Parliament that the government had withdrawn its proposal to house the private collection, rated in the art world as second in importance only to that of Queen Elizabeth II.

England has long been in love with American black music. The Beatles adored Little Richard. The Rolling Stones worshiped Chuck Berry. Joe Cocker idolized Ray Charles. And everyone--Elton John to George Michael--swears by Motown. But there's something different about a new crop of British pop stars who are enthralled with American black music. Unlike the hit-makers of the past, these artists are themselves black.

When Donald Ballentyne saw how much interest the Los Angeles community seemed to have in Great Britain and how enthusiastically the city responded to the Los Angeles Festival, his decision two years ago to coordinate a British arts event was made much easier.

George Bernard Shaw may have made his tart joke about Britain and America being divided by a common language. But in practical fact, the shared language has led to an interrelationship in arts and letters between two powerful nations that is without exact parallel in the world. In the early years of the Republic, an Englishman sneeringly asked, "Who reads an American book?"